Chapter 1 - What Has Come Has Yet To Come

A/N: Welcome to One Step At A Time! AND NO, this is not about how an alchemist learned how to walk xP It's a hard life for an alchemist, and not too many people know, so here it is! No, it's not a rant on how hard life is for an Alchemist, just...read it :D

"One leaf of a Magnolia," said a shadowy figure, which was cutting off the greenest leaf off the Magnolia tree, and placing it into one of the many bottles that jingled around her. "One raw egg to finish it off," she said cracking an egg into an empty bottle. She placed it on the floor, and dropped the leaf in it too. The raw egg started dissolving the healthy leaf, and when it was gone, the egg had turned a sickly green. She picked up the bottle and poured it into two vials. She downed one of the vials, and walked over to another shadowy figure, resting its back against a tree.

"Drink it," said the girl, as she stepped into the moonlight. She was one of the few, and one of the rare, a creator. She understood the mysterious of the world, and was constantly sought after for help, you might think she was much loved, but she was feared. She could mix such a potion, that it would knock you flat, by just being around it. She didn't fear what she made, because she was immune to them all.

"What is this?" asked the large beast, as it held the tiny vial in its hand, as we would hold a fly in ours. It held the vial gently, afraid to break it. It sniffed it, made a face of disgust, and drank it.

"It's a new poison I made," she said casually, letting the coat she wore around her shoulders to fall. She constantly made new poisons, and each time she did, envenom, used by thieves, and became more deadly. Envenom would use random poisons to poison the target, and each time an alchemist or a creator makes a new poison, envenom also gets updated.

"Bleh, its bad enough that you drink it ((and it tastes horrible)), but why do I have to drink it too?" the homunculus asked. It hated poison, but Adami had always told him it was better if he drank it with her.

"Well, what would happen if someone from the thief class used envenom, and you're not immune to it?" replied Adami, she wasn't paranoid, she was still trying to find a poison that would even hurt homunculi, which proved to be quite hard.

"Humph, I'm just another test subject, aren't I?" Kakoshi had been watching over Adami since she was very young. He had always been there, when Adami picked to be a Merchant to become an alchemist, the whole thing got a lot more confusing.

(( Flash Back ))

"Kakoshi, it is time for you to awaken, the one that has been chosen for you to protect, is born," said the priestess of the honorable Akemori's. The giant stone began to move, and it wasn't stone, it was a homunculus.

"This one is to be the reincarnation of Sakkie Akemori, the legendary Sniper," stated Kakoshi. Homunculi been also all-knowing, but, were not permitted to say anything, unless it was about their owner. They also had limits, what they knew had to be in the present, for they could not know of what would happen in the future.

"We suspect that much, 10 generations from the great Sakkie Akemori, would she be reborn. She can only be reborn into the next female line, since we are the only ones that can carry her blood," said the priestess.

"So, she's going to become a sniper too, I suppose?" asked Kakoshi as he smashed a nearby rock. Kakoshi was Sakkie's original Guardian, until he was put to rest to protect her reincarnation. Then a wood element took care of Sakkie.

"She's supposed to be. It's been seen that she will choose her job as an archer, because we have seen her on her 12th birthday, in the archer guild, but we were not able to hear what she had said," said the priestess Mikai matter-of-factly. She was two generations older than Adami. She was in her 20's, and had chosen the job of priestess. It was perfect timing since, the elder priestess, had retired. Mikai had become elder priestess, since she also had the knowledge of an alchemist, since her father was one.

"Well, we'll see won't we? She's going to be a different child, I can tell," said Kakoshi as he walked out of the Akemori Caves, where homunculi were bred, and grew. He smashed a boulder nearby, trying to grasp how powerful he was. He had been asleep for 10 generations, and he needed to make sure he was ready to become a guardian. Each guardian, when their respective masters died, they were put to sleep until their reincarnation was born again.

"I guess, we really have no other choice, and why do you keep hitting those boulders? They might have sacred rocks in them!" Mikai started using her powers to summon as many sacred spirits as she could in one time. She didn't blame him really, he had been trapped for 10 generations, and the sacred spirits that were born with each of them ceased to exist. Mikai would know, she was the reincarnation of Mitsukai, the daughter of Sakkie. Mitsukai had helped many people, and there was a good change in the world because of her. When Mikai was born, everyone sat around her, waiting for her homunculus, but it never came. The homunculus was only summoned by those of great honor, and it was the Akemori family. There were only 4 families, and one of them used their homunculi for evil, and more than half were vanquished by Sakkie and Kakoshi. They thought Mikai had been switched at birth, for no homunculus came in the first 10 years of her life, and but it changed when she turned 13. The homunculus had awoken on its own, and explained everything to Mikai. She was the first reincarnation in the family, and therefore, struck the family as odd. As she grew older though, her homunculus had told her she was just like Mitsukai, in every way.

"Oh, is that how it works now? There are sacred rocks now? Why are you no longer born with your homunculus?" The homunculus looked sad, he used to enjoy witnessing each child of their family of honorable name, awake one morning, and have a glowing sphere above them, then, the sphere would evolve, and become the homunculus to suit them best.

"There are too many reincarnations now, that we haven't witnessed the birth of homunculus in too long," said Mikai with a sigh. Ten years ago, an Akemori was born; she was the descendant of a very distant cousin of Sakkie, but nevertheless, an Akemori. She had become a champion, and had a Golem for her as her homunculus, which fit her properly, since she kept getting in tight spots.

"Well, we should go visit the young Akemori," said Kakoshi, "what is the young Akemori's name?" Kakoshi already started moving to the village that the Akemori's lived in. In the middle of town, there was a large manor, a house big enough to house 2,000, and that's about what it did. The Akemori's ruled this small village, in a sort of democracy, if there were problems, the villagers would come and tell any of the Akemori's, and the problem would be solved. They were much loved, and money was not a problem, since many of them were adventurers.

"Her name is Adami, and she was born to my cousin, Amaru," said Mikai as she followed Kakoshi down to the village.